Behind The Scenes: Anne's Favorite Edison Strips From 2013

Recently I was looking through the Edison strips from the past year and decided I'd like to go back and post some of my favorites.

Here, in no particular order, are some of the strips that made me laugh every time I looked at them along with some of the stories from behind the scenes:

This strip was written after last year's Reuben Award Weekend in Pittsburgh.

The weather was especially hairy on Memorial Day Weekend of 2013 and pretty much every cartoonist who flew to Pittsburgh had an airplane or airport horror story to share. Alex Hallet of Arctic Circle said she actually spent more time getting from NY to Pittsburgh - huge amounts of time on the tarmac included - than it took her to cross the Atlantic Ocean!

And I have a personal hatred of flying that I once wrote about here.

Add to all the bad airport stories our love of Legos and you get a comic strip!

This one we wrote while walking the dogs. We had just watched Young Frankenstein and John knew he wanted to do a strip sort of paying homage to the film - complete with black and white cinema style - but he didn't have a topic. By the end of the walk the dogs were worn out but we had this strip.

I don't know where John got the idea for this one but it makes me laugh out loud every time I look at it...

This is one of those strips set in the lab that I love to color. Especially when John does the weird shapes in the background. It's an example of a strip that I never quite remember what it's about when I'm not looking at it but the words "Mmm, Mmm! Them possum muffins sure do smell good, granny!" are burned into my brain. Our daughter quotes this strip whenever anyone mentions the Beverly Hillbillies.

Orville is a great subject for strips involving sight gags and cluelessness....

This may very well be my favorite Edison strip of all time - it perfectly encapsulates the relationship between Edison and his Mom as well as his relationship with his cousin Harley. All in just two words and a clear visual.

This is my favorite kind of political strip. It sums up the population's general dissatisfaction with our elected officials without pinpointing a specific target.

More of my favorites next week....

Kenosha Festival Of Cartooning 2014

Yes, there WILL be another Kenosha Festival of Cartooning full-on 3 day event in September of 2014.

That is, there will be another festival if we raise the money we need to run everything and still keep the event free to the public. Watch the fabulous video by Tom Racine and get all the details about guest speakers, dates etc.

And then head over to Indiegogo and make a donation - lots of great backer perks are available even if you cannot attend the festival!!

Comic Kudos: Andertoons Mark Anderson

Another cartoonist that never fails to get a laugh from me (and I do mean NEVER fails) is gag cartoonist Mark Anderson of Andertoons. I've been reading Mark's stuff for years and his ability to make yet another cartoon about charts and graphs never ceases to amaze me. But he doesn't just do business room humor, as seen in the animal strips here. Just general all-around funny stuff.

I also love the old style look of minimal line with judicious use of washes.

As with many cartoonists Mark didn't set out to make a living from cartoons - hear all about his cartooning journey over at his interview with Tom Racine on Tall Tale Radio. He's not just funny on paper! (We have another thing in common - a love of Legos - between us we probably have an entire house full of Legos!)

And go subscribe to him on Gocomics so you can read his work every day!!